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Marine Layer Opens Its Archives

Scott Lucas | Photo: Courtesy Marine Layer | September 3, 2014

First up: the Fleet Week t shirt.

"We turn clothes over faster than the average customer who comes in. So for years we’ve been getting requests to bring some things back," says the CEO of Marine Layer, Mike Natenshon, explaining the company's just-launched Archives Project. "We thought our five year anniversary would be a good time to bring back a curated version of that."

And so they have. Starting today, the Hayes Valley, Chestnut Street, and Palo Alto retailer that makes small batches of men's and women's casual wear is offering customers limited-edition version of previously-unavailable items from the store's archives—thanks to a crowdfunding campaign. First up is this t-shirt. "We wanted to coincide with the return of Fleet Week this year," says Natenshon. The shirt was originally printed in 2010, and hasn't been sold since then. Until now. The archive item doesn't go into production until it reaches it pre-order goal, so that t-shirt still has 82 more to go.

Though it's expanded dramatically since its beginning in 2009, Marine Layer still makes its clothes in small production runs. But they've gotten much better at the logistics. "The first button-up shirt we did came back inside out. It's like our upside-down stamp," says Natenshon. "I still have one. It's a good memory."

The CEO isn't worried that increasing the supply will lead to some awkward moments out in the real world. "Even for our most popular stuff, you don't usually bump into someone wearing them. So I'm not too worried about two guys walking down the street wearing the same shirt."